Invisible or nearly invisible icons in light mode in 2.1

[MikeTO]

I know a couple of these have been reported before but this thread in the feedback forum got me looking for places where controls are invisible in light mode: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/183915-my-greatest-annoyance-using-affinity-designer-2-the-aspect-ratio-lock-icon/

All of these screenshots are with the default contrast settings but the high contrast setting makes no difference.

1. The new linked fields icon in 2.1 has good contrast everywhere except in Designer's Document Setup, Publisher's Text Wrap Settings, and Publisher's Guides. The icon is in a lot of places and all the rest that I found looked good.
   Left: Designer vs. Right: Photo
     
     
   
   Publisher's Text Wrap Settings
         
   
   Publisher's Guides (for both Margins, shown, and Spread Origin)
         
    
2. This has been previously reported but the two Save Preset icons have no contrast in light mode so they're invisible. Same in all 3 apps.
     
    
3. The Move Up/Down icons in Layer Effects have no contrast in light mode so they're invisible.
     
    
4. The Pinning panel has a completely white background so the controls are washed out.
   
    
5. Likewise the Styles panel has a completely white background so some styles are impossible to see. Same in all 3 apps.
     
    
6. In light mode there is no background icon well for disabled controls in the Context Bar like there is in dark mode - the icons are floating. Same in all 3 apps.
     
    
7. Similarly, disabled buttons have no visible contrast with the background like there is in dark mode - the button labels are floating.
     
    
8. Similarly, disabled pulldown buttons have no visible contrast with the background like there is in dark mode - the selected value and the spinner controls on the right are floating.
     
    
9. The blue focus rectangle gets in the way of the text in a field in light mode - there's a thick grey border inset in the field in light mode that seems to shrink the available space.
    
    
10. The Move to Parent icon in the Insert Topic Reference dialog (shown above) has no contrast in light mode making it impossible to see.
     
11. The Add Section icon in Section Manager looks very disabled in light mode when it's actually enabled. This one is odd because the same icon in Data Resource Manager (shown right) has good contrast.
      
    And here's a dark mode issue - a disabled radio button (Continue page numbering) has no contrast and is invisible in dark mode but it's good in light mode.
    

 

[DWright]

This issue has been logged with our developers

[Old Bruce]

Nice catch. I can see the Unlinked icon, barely, but there is nothing there when it is Linked.

This stuff is obviously a major failure, I do not know how else to describe it. Invisible controls are utterly useless.For instance, did you know that you can link/unlink the Spread Origin co-ordinates? Please fix all the various things that have been reported as invisible. We are missing out on tools.

And for the love of all that is good and decent don't suggest I alter the defaults in the Preferences or switch to using the Dark Interface. Just don't suggest that.

[Chris B]

@MikeTO I've picked a few of these up that were missing from our database.

• 4 - Seems OK in build 2449. Can you re-check, please?
• 6 - Seems OK in build 2449. Dark UI doesn't seem to have the background for me
• 7 - I can't seem to locate this area
• 8 - It's a good spot but I'm not overly concerned by this - are there any other areas like this that I could compile a list from?
• 11 - Seems much better in build 2449

[MikeTO]

2 hours ago, Chris B said:

@MikeTO I've picked a few of these up that were missing from our database.

• 4 - Seems OK in build 2449. Can you re-check, please?
• 6 - Seems OK in build 2449. Dark UI doesn't seem to have the background for me
• 7 - I can't seem to locate this area
• 8 - It's a good spot but I'm not overly concerned by this - are there any other areas like this that I could compile a list from?
• 11 - Seems much better in build 2449

Thanks Chris.

#4 - confirmed

#6 - you're right, there's no background 'well' in dark mode either, so not an issue

#7 - I can't figure out which dialog that's from either but you can see the same issue in light mode in the Studio Preset Manager and Insert Cross-Reference

#8 - other examples are: Text Style Editor > Font (when family=NC then Font Style will be disabled) and also for Bullets & Numbering (multiple lists). Also Relative To in Baseline Grid, the Max Word Count list in Insert cross-ref, the Field list in Insert Anchor, and the Field list in Insert Hyperlink when Type=Anchor, Email, File or URL. In some of these examples, there are also disabled text fields which have a similar issue, the value is visible but the control is invisible.

#11 - yes, that one looks better now, thanks.

Thanks

[Chris B]

7 - Yep—got that. Thanks!

8 - Happy to log this one now - thanks again!

[MikeTO]

@Chris B I know you have enough examples now, but here's a prominent one for #8. The Font Style control in the Context Toolbar must be disabled when the font is missing leading to this.

[Chris B]

@MikeTO thanks! That is so hard to spot on my screen it took me a few seconds to even realise what I was looking at 😅 I'll include that in the report!

[loukash]

Haven't found this thread before posting ^ this.

[MickM]

Can this family of bugs PLEASE be fixed. It's just awful. I liken all this to drving a nice car with an opaque windscreen. I'm astonished... astounded... that such a good product has had this unacceptable layer of user "hostility" wrapped around it for such a very long time. 

[Alfred]

2 hours ago, MickM said:

I was searching for a word meaning the very opposite of user friendly...

Perhaps ‘hostile’ would fit the bill here.

[MickM]

1 minute ago, Alfred said:

Perhaps ‘hostile’ would fit the bill here.

Agreed - that's a much better word. I edited my post accordingly. Thanks.

[Old Bruce]

@Chris B

Here is a new one for me. I don't know how long this has been around as I rarely use the sponge brush. Light mode makes it impossible to tell what the settings are for Saturate/Desaturate and Vibrance/Saturation.